A 38-year-old Phillipsburg man was ordered held in the Warren County jail Wednesday on charges of threatening over the phone to kill a Family Division judge and a child protection services worker.

Neil Rush was the second man charged in the past five months with threatening to kill a Superior Court judge in Warren County as well as an employee of the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency, formerly known as the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS).

Rush's terroristic threat charges, and those of Nelson Martinez, 34, of Phillipsburg, were both transferred out of Warren County to Morris County for prosecution. Martinez was charged in March with threatening to kill a judge and DCPP worker — an incident that led to the evacuation of the Warren County courthouse and nearby schools. Martinez pleaded guilty and was sentenced in July to three years in prison, according to records.

Rush on Aug. 21 allegedly called a female DCPP worker, irate that a Family Division judge ordered that his visits with his 6-year-old son be supervised. Rush allegedly said to the worker: "I'll come down there right now and kill all you DYFS [expletives]," court records state.

Rush then allegedly threatened to choke the judge, who was not identified, as well as the DCPP employee, records show. Rush did not issue a threat directly to the judge; he issued threats that included the judge to the DCPP worker, authorities said.

Rush appeared Wednesday in Morristown before Superior Court Judge Donald Collester, who agreed with Warren County Assistant Prosecutor Victor Jusino that Rush should be detained in the Warren County jail while the terroristic threat charges are pending.

Jusino said he likely wouldn't have tried to keep Rush in custody while the charges are pending except that he has four prior convictions for simple assault.

Defense lawyer Liz Cervenak argued for Rush's release, saying he was arrested at home and didn't resist. She said he was willing to undergo a mental health evaluation and be monitored with an ankle bracelet.

The judge said he would revisit the detention issue if Rush underwent an evaluation while in custody. He said he was concerned about the threats and didn't know enough about Rush's history with Family Court to release him from custody.

Under the state's 19-month-old criminal justice reform program, monetary bail is no longer used for release. People accused of serious crimes are either released on summonses after their arrests or subject to detention motions filed by prosecutors who have to prove to a judge that the suspect poses a risk to the community if released.

If a suspect is kept in custody, prosecutors have 90 days to secure an indictment by a grand jury. The state then must try the person within 180 days of obtaining the indictment.